When does H1B Visa 2018 Season Start ?Update : USCIS accepted H1B Petitions for FY 2018 starting from April 3rd, 2017 until April 7th. They updated that H1B Cap was reached on April 7th, 2017.
Typically, USCIS accepts H1B petitions for next fiscal year starting from April 1st. So, for FY 2018, the start date for accepting applications would be April 1st, 2017. But, for FY 2018 season, April 1st falls on a Saturday, so USCIS will accept applications starting from Monday, April 3rd, 2017. If you were wondering why called 2018, when in 2017, it is the fiscal year dates that dictate that. USCIS fiscal year is from October 1st to March 30th. So, technically the fiscal year for 2018 starts from October 1st and they accept petitions for the same 6 months before the start date and it would be April 1st, 2017. You may read USCIS Press release for H1B 2017 Start Date

What is H1B 2018 Quota ? Regular Cap vs Master’s Cap Quota ? Update : USCIS confirmed the below quota cap numbers in latest press release for FY 2018.
To get some background, read H1B Quota – Regular vs Masters . There have been many speculations on increasing the H1B Cap due to extremely high demand and bills proposed for the same in the past, nothing made it through. As of writing of this article, below is the H1B cap quota. We will keep this article updated as new changes come in. The total H1B Quota as of today is 85,000 and it is split like below.

H1B 2018 Lottery Predictions ?
It used to be a speculation whether we would have lottery in previous years, but in the past 4 years, lottery has become common. It is very likely that we would have lottery aka random selection for H1B 2018 season. We have been writing predictions over the years and all of them have been accurate so far. Check out our H1B Visa 2018 Lottery Predictions – Data Analysis to get an idea on how many H1B petitions you can expect for this fiscal year.

Update : USCIS Received 199,000 H1B petitions for fiscal year 2018. H1B Lottery was conducted on April 11th, 2017.

When to plan for H1B 2018 Application – What should be your strategy ?
It is never too late to start planning…Depending on your situation, you may fall in one of the below categories and the suggestions are described below.

F1 Student in USA : If you are studying on F1 visa and about to graduate in next one year, you should seriously look at finding an internship or co-op at companies that can sponsor your H1B visa. You can search for H1B Sponsors in a particular area using our H1B Sponsors Search Tool and try to get an internship to work there on CPT or OPT after you graduate. This is a strategic move and will require sometime, so plan well.

Working Professional from outside USA : If you are a working professional outside US, planning to work in US, especially on H1B visa, your best bet is to find Multinational companies ( MNCs) that have major US presence and secure a job there, so that you can position internally for applying to H1B visa, when the season starts. This is a very strategic decision, you need to carefully assess your options, speak to the company if such options exist and then only choose it. There may be many people already in-line for these visas, you need to plan carefully so that you are given a slot in the company’s filing for your next season application.

Other H4, L1 Visas : If you are on these visas living in USA, your best bet is to find companies just like I mentioned for F1 students that sponsor H1B visas and start interviewing and keeping the conversation going so that you can ask them to file H1B when the season starts.

How to find H1B Visa Sponsor for FY 2018 quota ?
This is probably the most asked question by everyone. It can be a tricky decision, you need be very careful to avoid fraud.

If you are student in the US, it is very straight forward, you find the list of H1B Sponsoring companies using the tool in an area as I mentioned above and get an internship in one of them so that they can sponsor your H1B visa.

If you are professional planning to arrive in US from outside America, it can be really tricky. If you work for an Multinational company ( MNC), then they will have some internal process to pick the candidates and then process H1B visa for them…The other option that has been used and abused is the consulting companies route…Many a times, the H1B aspirants approach a body shop IT consulting company to file H1B for them and they apply for the same. It gets nasty with the body shop consulting companies. The comments on this H1B Companies Reviews article are quite eye opening. I advise, you beware of the consulting companies and avoid fraud.

Also, WE as RedBus2US do NOT provide any guidance or assistance or sponsor anything. If someone claims that, it is pure fraud and they are trying to trick you, we are not responsible for that. Please be careful

The H1B fee varies by the size of the company..As of FY 2017 season, it can range anywhere from $1,600 USD to $7,400 USD + Attorney Fee. On December 23, 2016 , USCIS increased the H1B fee component of base filing fees, which was $325. The below table is updated with the latest fee updates from USCIS. There are various fees components that make up this number range, for more details Read Summary of H1B Filing Fee 2017 – Who pays for What ? . Below is a high level summary from FY 2017 quota. If any changes, we will update this accordingly.

H1B Fee Component

Fee in USD

Base filing fee

$460

AICWA Fee

$750 or $1,500

Fraud prevent & detection fee

$500

Fee based on Public Law 114-113 ( if applicable)

$4000

Premium processing fee (Optional)

$1,225

Immigration Attorney Fee

Varies from $500 to $3000

H1B 2018 Lottery Results – Checks Cashed, Receipts :
One of the most asked questions is when will I get to know the lottery result for my petition. Well, this depends on many factors and there is no set SLA or date. To put things in perspective, last year, USCIS did a news alert indicating that they have returned all the rejected H1B petitions on July 8th, 2017. So, you can expect the last date for receiving final lottery decision around mid July 2017. …As we had about same number of petitions filed for FY 2018, it may be slightly earlier or even later in July or even early August 2017… Few of the ways you would know, if you are selected in lottery is that, if the check that was filed with your H1B petition was cashed, or your employer gets the actual physical receipt notice in mail to them. If you filed under US masters quota, SEVIS update is another indication that you were selected in H1B lottery for FY 2018. Ideally, your receipt numbers should arrive within 1 to 2 months…but, you never know, until you get a reject notice to be sure !

H1B 2018 Case Tracker :
Did you apply for FY 2018 ? With premium processing suspended, it is quite hard for applicants to know the general status of everyone to understand their situation. We have put together a tracker along with good graphs for analysis. It is completely anonymous as we do not capture your case number or any personal information. It is community contributed data, the more you add, the better for everyone, including You !

Track your H1B Case

We do not know, if this news release is directed by Trump administration or not…but, on April 3rd, 2017 the start date of H1B season, there were set of new announcements made by USCIS to report and prevent abuse of H1B program. Check out USCIS New measures to report, prevent H1B Fraud . Besides this, as of the today ( article updated date), nothing has been officially ordered or specifically implemented by New President Trump Administration. There are many speculations on how H1B program will become tougher with higher wages, quota limits, etc… but, nothing has been officially signed. We will update the article as new updates come in.

Various H1B Bills in US House and Senate – Will they be passed for FY 2018 ?
There are few bills that are introduced in 2017 and at various stages in both house and senate. There are many confusions regarding the same bills like the minimum wage will go up to $130,000 USD, etc. Fact is that nothing has passed and there are very slim chances for them to get passed before start of FY 2018 season. You can check H1B Bills Tracker to get more details on current status. We will keep the article updated as new things are passed.

Latest News about H1B 2018 Season
High Level Latest News for FY 2018 is listed below. But, all the Latest News are tracked on our H1B 2018 News and Updates Tracker Page. Check out below.

April 13th, 2017 ( Unofficial ) : ImmigrationGirl, an attorney’s blog, confirms that one of their H1B petitions Masters’s cap checks were cashed yesterday. It is weird that USCIS is processing the petitions, without announcement. It means that Lottery was done to some extent at least Masters quota, but announcement is yet to come. Check http://immigrationgirl.com/h-1b-lottery-progress-begins/.

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I got a denial for H1b in Nov, 2018. The decision was appealed by the employer and we have not received decision till now. Can the employer file again this year April without withdrawing the appeal ? Or to apply this year we have the cancel our appeal ?

Apologies for the lengthy message, this is a bit urgent so will appreciate a speedy response.

I was informed by the company in July 2018 that my petition has been picked in lottery. Since then I kept on following up but they kept saying that there is no update on the petition. The last communication was in November 2018 after that I stopped following up but only yesterday I received a call from them saying that they there is an update on my petition and they have received an RFE. Since the time I applied I was already in Australia on work visa and seeing no progress on H1-B I started looking for new jobs in Australia and now I have got an offer here in Australia itself. So I told them that I will not be interested in H1B anymore, but they tried to convince me to go ahead with the application. If I refuse, then I will have to pay them 3 lakh rupees(which is equal to 6000 Australian $) as I signed an Indian affidavit on stamp paper . They are offering me 100000$ and I have an offer of 150000$ in Australia itself which is more than 100000 American $.

And in Australia there is the option of PR as well, while the H1B will only be for 3/6 years. I am in a dilemma right now. Could you please let me know if I should ask them to stop the H1-B process as now I have got better offer in Australia itself? Although getting selected in H1-B lottery is difficult and one can move back to Australia any time. I will appreciate your suggestions/responses which might help in making a decision.

Are the H1B applications of last year still in progress and still receiving RFEs ? Can I ask the company for more evidence, any file number to cross verify ?

My H1B got selected in Lottery. But in last i got email from my company that USICS requested for additional evidence, since then i am checking in the USICS poratal for my cases status but its still in “Case was received” only. usually how long it will take for status change and when we need to upload the additional documents.

I have a valid H1B petition and visa stamping with Employer A. I have told them that i ll join in January 2018. Currently I am working in India for Employer B. Now my current employer is willing to transfer H1B. But since premium processing is suspended, it is unlikely that it will get approved before January.

1. If Employer B iniates the transfer and gets the receipt notice, can i travel to US with employer A approved petition/visa and start working for Employer B with receipt notice?

2. Can i wait for Employer B petition approval and then travel to US with Employer B approved petiton and Employer A visa ? Or should i go again for stamping?

3. If i chose option 2, then Employer A might withdraw the petition thinking that i may not join them owing to the timeline i committed to them. In that case any issues to the transfer process of Employer B.

4. What happens if Employer A withdraws the petition and Employer B transfer denied? Am i cap exempt so that i can apply through another employer in future.

1. Well, in my view, it may not be allowed as you entered using Employer A petition. You can work, if the H1B transfer is filed after you enter US and then submit for H1B transfer using your I-94 and all new details. 2. You do not need stamping again. You can use stamping from Employer A with new approval notice and enter US. 3. Withdrawing petition does not impact your H1B transfer…your old petition was only used for getting cap exempt option. 4. You would be cap exempt for up to 6 years from the date of filing of first petition. Read H1B Transfer and FAQs

The location change amendment RFE has been responded on July, and its been with USCIS for four months. Am planning to go to home country for my family situation. Normally how much months its taking to get approval. I am planning to raise a ‘Service request’ in USCIS. Due to raising a service request whether my case process will more delayed or any chance to process soon. Could you please help me to understand service request process. My employer always stating not approved.

Hi All , I got Specialty occupation RFE. Heard from attorney that this is common and easy routine RFE sent this year for most. Attorney responded with relevant docs. 1) Usualy how long it is taking to process after RFE response sent. 2) Is this specialty occupation is routine RFE or critical RFE?.

1. As per USCIS you will get the response (approval or second RFE or denial) within 60 days. However, due to lot of backlogs the waiting period may go up. But you (your employer or attorney) may raise a service request after 60 days. It is not must for them to respond to your service request but most of the time they do. Also, I do believe you will get some response within 60 to 90 days.

2. It is a common RFE for many years. And also this is the basic thing the employer need to prove to get an H1, i.e, if the job is not comes under specialty occupation then h1 will not be issued.

Thanks 3rd timer. I got approval 2 days back. question : My friend H1 also got picked and got same specialty occupation RFE same day as me. And RFE responded on same day as me. and Attorney got ack on same day for both of us.

But, My status was properly updated in egov and dhs websites. But, his status still showing as case received. Is this USCIS fault?. or will only one case status will reflect for one account?. Note : I have registered for both of us in egov and DHS website with my account only.

My H1B picked up in lottery in 2017 and got approved in August. During stamping I got 221g. After a long wait my H1B visa got stamped with Employer A. So currently I have an approved petition and stamping with Employer A. Currently Iam in India.

Questions:

1. If another Employer B is willing to transfer my H1B and if it gets approved, can i travel to US with the new approved petition and old employer visa stamping stamping?

If you are travelling for the first time on H1B then you need to get stamped again thru petition of employer B. The stamping should be updated with latest petition while travelling for the first time. My friend faced the same issue at POE and went thru secondary inspection process.

Could you please provide your insight on my case. I’m on H1B, my employer has filed an amendment for me for location change (direct client to my employer) on 21st of march this year. It’s been more than 7 months. However we’re still waiting for decision from USCIS. Therefore, I have the following questions. 1. How long it might take to get the decision from USCIS for amendment in current scenario? 2. Can I travel out of country while my H1B amendment decision is pending? If yes, what are the documents I need to carry? 3. In case if I receive RFE on my amendment, would it be risky to travel out of country when the case is under processing with an RFE

You can, if your employer is willing to continue your employment and your H1B is valid, and you get paid on H1B as per the application filing. If you entered on H1B visa, you would have used only 1 month of your H1B time.

1. Yes. 2. They can go for H4 visa stamping and get it done. Check H4 Visa stamping experience – Docs Checklist. You can speak to your employer too to get guidance and check with the attorney. 3. It depends on how you have your contract with employer. Usually, employers take care of these expenses as well.

Thank you so much. One more question. Can my dependents (Wife & Kids) go for H4 visa interview without me (Just keeping my passport)? I am asking this because since I have not traveled to USA yet, is it mandatory that I should accompany my dependants while H4 interview?

Not required. They can go or stamping without you but with your documents (approved i-797 and other). Please check with your company’s immigration team/ attorney to find out what are all the documents required for stamping. Good luck and all the very best for your stamping.

My H1B got picked this year and it’s in “Case received status” with California center. It got picked after 3 attempts from 2016.I’m working on CPT status now and have following questions:

-I want to travel to India in November for personal reasons and return December last week. I want to know if travelling while case is still pending would disturb H1 application process. As after some research I understood that I can travel outside country anytime while case is pending but to return I need to wait till case gets approved. [P.S I will be working from India].

-I’m pursuing PhD (program end date May 2021), My Initial F1 stamping expired on June 2017 I have Masters (graduated 2014), utilized OPT period and then took another Masters with Day 1 CPT and now pursuing PhD with the same university . What if I go to F1 stamping in November and it gets approved, Is my H1 application still valid at this point, will h1 be processed?

-It’s been 180 days since I received H1B receipt, any other way or call to inquire USCIS to check on status or to expedite . I understand premium processing is suspended till February.

Sri, Your travel to India should not have any impact on your H1B, only thing is if it was filed as COS, it would be abandoned. Yes, you will need to get F1 stamping to re-enter US as your F1 visa is expired. Talk to your DSO and make sure you carry all documents that are required for you to present, if asked at Port of Entry. You may call USCIS, but not going to change much.

I was issued 221G asking for client letter at aug 10th 2018, submitted docs by aug 28th.Now i got a mail from USCIS like the one below.

Sub: REQUEST PASSPORT :: MDR – 2018XXX XXX XXXX

Dear XXXXXXX:

With reference to your U.S. Visa application, we kindly request you to submit your passport (also the/your dependents, if any, who applied for US visa along with you) and a printout of this e-mail at one of the 5 Visa Application Centers (VACs) or 6 VFS offices. To locate the 5 VACs and 6 VFS offices closest to you, please check the website WWW.USTRAVELDOCS.com/in. There will be no fee charged for this service.

Regards, U.S Consulate General, Chennai

Official UNCLASSIFIED

Also i dont see the status change in CEAC website is this a positive sign? any thoughts idea?

It looks like your case already approved. Dont worry much about status change in the website because now a days it is not up to date. Just submit the passport as soon as possible . Good luck and all the best. Safe travel too.

Currently, I am on cpt working at client location. my h1b got picked up this year and received an RFE, my employer is yet to respond to the RFE. however I am planning to travel to india from first week of feb to first week of mar next year. Not sure it my I receive the decision from USCIS before I travel. is it ok to travel while h1b is pending and what are the possible issues?

If you are on CPT, you are on F1 status…Not sure, how your H1B was filed either COS or consular processing. If it was filed as COS, the COS would be abandoned and it will processed as normal consular processing, meaning you need to get visa stamping to move to H1B status.

The petition was filed for the COS. Since I have 4 months of time till my travel date assuming my employer responds to the RFE this month. could you please provide your insight on the below queries as well

1. If COS is abandoned when I am in India, would that affect my current F1 status? Can I still travel to US on F1(valid till dec’2019) when my COS is abandoned? 2. According to current situation, How long it might take to get a response for an RFE? 3. what are the chances of receiving uscis decision when I am India(from feb 1st week of 2019 to mar 1st week of 2019)? 4. If I receive approval after reaching US on F1. Should I go back to India again for stamping (or) I can also go to Canada for stamping? 5. This travel is very important to me and I need to go to India due to personal reasons. What would be your suggestion in order to avoid any issues to my status?

1. It should not affect your F1 status, they are independent. Make sure you speak to DSO and carry all documentation for F1 and have valid visa stamping on your passport to re-enter. 2. it is hard to tell. 3. again, very hard to say, everything depends on case and USCIS load. 4. you may go for stamping in Canada, but check with Canadian embassy to be sure as rules keep changing. 5. Life is not black and white, you need to take some calls based on what is priority for you…I would not able to advice, you need to make an informed decision and not regret if things do not work out.

I got my H1B stamped in my passport 3 Months back. Actually the employer (employerA) who sponsored (I paid 4k$ as deposit BTW) me the visa is not showing interest in bringing me to USA. He is not giving confidence that he can arrange client interviews and get me a job.

I just got a call from another companyB who is ready to transfer the visa to them and arrange me a job . The good thing is that they are ready to sponsor me flight tickets, accommodation, food for 30-45 days. That is not the case with the companyA who sponsored me the visa. Please note that I have never been to USA so far. As I heard, we need to have atleast one month payslip from the companyA who sponsored the visa, otherwise the visa cannot be transferred. But the companyB said they will manage it as they have 3000+ people working for them and their immigration team know how to get transfer smooth and complete success. CompanyB is even ready to give me some advance until I secure a job.

Since you re not even started to work for company A, I believe, it is not required to submit the pay check when you are changing the job. So, if you think that company B is good one and better than A it is worth to try the transfer. Also, you no need to worry that if A will come to know you are attempting transfer with B. Because, USCIS will not inform company A. They will treat your transfer as new petition but no lottery because it was already undergone the lottery. Only draw back is there is no premium option for transfer so you need to wait at least 3 to 6 months. Some people advice that based on transfer receipt you can work and that’s true. However, some time visa officer at the poet of entry may deny (not 100% certain but it may happen) your admission. So, best case scenario is join B after you receive an approval.

Whatever I explained above is about how the transfer work. But joining A vs B, it is your individual decision. My suggestion is reach out to some folks who are already working with B and they might give you better answer.

Good luck and all the best for your transfer if you plan to go through.

Selected in lottery but still no word of results. Is there anyone else in the same boat? My application is at the CA center. I read somewhere if you havent heard back by June its usually a denial? How true is this?

Hi, I am on F1 visa. During h1b process, I worked for company A and then I changed from company A to company B. My H1b application has been approved but only for 3 month. How can I initiate process for extension ?

Again, the Q you are posted in not very clear. Ok, This is my understanding. You are in F1 (OPT/CPT/STEM Ext/or Cap-Gap) and working for a consultancy. They placed you in Client A and submitted the H1 with Client A’s credential/documents. Now, your H1 is approved for Client A for 3 months only in the mean time your job is changed to Client B which may be long time and you/your employer wants to change your job to B.

If the above statement is true then file an amendment/extension on or later October 1st and based on the receipt continue to work for B till your get extension or RFE etc. It is better to ask for an amendment after October 1st because your H1 already kick-in. If you ask for an extension before that H1 official start date some officers may reject with an interpretation that your H1 not yet active.

Since your new H1 is not yet stamped (assuming Comp 2 petition was already approved) It will not be a problem. Also, even if it stamped I believe it will not be a problem. Problem only happens at the port of entry if you are unable to answer the questions truthfully otherwise you are fine.

–Good luck and all the best for your travel and also for your approval (if not yet approved) and for your visa stamping (if your H1 is/was approved already).

You need to mention clearly to the CBP officer that you are entering on B1 visa for business meetings with company1, so that your they enter in system that you have entered on B1 visa. Company2 does not have any info about you, unless you tell them.